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I have just learned of a new book that
I believe every AB reader could relate to.
DON'T BUY IT: The Trouble with Talking
Nonsense about the Economy
by: ANAT SHENKER-OSORIO

An excerpt from the book summary:

This
concise, entertaining book shows us how wrong-headed metaphors and
deceptive language have muddled our economic thinking, and how better
word choice alone can win the debate
Today the term "dismal science"
seems almost too kind: too many of today's economic arguments deserve
the mantle of mysticism.
Below are a few quotes from a an
excerpt of the preface of the book.
Mainline thinking about the U.S.
economy is starting to resemble Scientology: beyond a coterie of
high-profile, high-income believers, the more those of us outside the
fold learn about the teachings, the wackier the whole enterprise
sounds.
Members who attempt to leave either
orthodoxy—in one case a church and in the other a market-worship
orientation—are shunned and ostracized.
In a nutshell, the overriding message
is twofold: it’s your fault that the Economy sucks, but there’s
not much you can do to improve it. This storyline must sound achingly
familiar to Christians. The blame for damnation to hell lies with you
and you alone. Yet though prayer and piety are good ideas, only God
determines who merits redemption. Economic salvation is out of your
hands, but that’s no excuse to quit your night job or start
spending on luxury items like college.
I find this next statement most inline
with my thinking when for years here at AB I have asked: What do we
have an economy for?
In most domains, policies must be
advertised as serving our national interests, but when GDP talk rolls
around, this is no longer the case. We’re here to please the
economy, not the other way around.
I'll
send this one to my daughter to add to my “gift list”. It's a
list of books she can consider when she wants to give me a gift.